The Darkling Hunters: Fox Company Alpha (Fox Company Series Book 1)

by Rhiannon Ayers

  “Realistic,” Sam echoed, scowling. “Funny, it doesn’t look like you’re being realistic. It looks like you’re running.”

  “I was planning on a more leisurely pace.”

  “Well, good. That’ll make it easier to catch up to you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m trying to do the right thing, okay? Just let me go so we can all get past this.”

  “The right thing.”

  “Yes.”

  He eyed her sideways. “So…the right thing…is leaving us.”

  Sydney let out a huff. “Will you stop making this out like I’m…” Another huff. “Look, I get it, okay? I saw the way you were looking at me back at that lab.”

  “What way?” Dex piped up. He made a show of leaning forward, studying Sam’s expression from a comical angle. “Oh, you mean that way? I don’t think that means anything, Syd. That’s just his face.” Sam turned, scowling in a deliberately over-the-top manner. Dex perked up and immediately jabbed a finger toward him. “See? He’s doing it right now. It’s nothing to worry about. Hell, he looked at me that way this morning.”

  “I wasn’t looking at you. I was looking at your zit.”

  “What zit?”

  “That big honker on your chin.”

  “What? What zit? I don’t have any zits.”

  “Dude, you so have zits.”

  “Do not.”

  “Do too.”

  “Do not! I’m as clear as a—”

  “It was singing opera while you were sleeping last night.”

  “Dude—”

  “Stop trying to make me laugh,” Sydney said, chuckling as she said it. She schooled her expression the moment Sam turned back around, but he still caught the twinkle in her eyes before she sobered. “I appreciate it, okay? Really, I do. But all the banter in the world won’t change the fact that things are different now.”

  “Different how?” Sam prompted. When she didn’t answer right away, he took a step forward. “Syd, please, just talk to us. What did you mean, the way I looked at you back at the lab? How did I look at you?”

  Sydney shuffled her feet, adjusting the strap of the duffle bag on her shoulder. She spoke to the floor. “Like you were…afraid of me.”

  Sam jerked back as if she’d slapped him. “Syd…Syd, that’s not—”

  “I get it, okay?” she said, looking up with mournful eyes. “It’s one thing to be told your girlfriend isn’t human; it’s another thing entirely to deal with it face-to-face. I’m not…I’ll never be like you guys, Sam. That’s just the way it is, and we all…we’ll all have to learn how to accept that.”

  “Where is this coming from?” Dex said. For the first time, he moved away from the door and came to stand on Sam’s left. “Syd, I already told you, we don’t care that you glow in the dark.”

  She let out a humorless laugh. “No, probably not. But you do care that I kill people.”

  “Uh, Syd, we’re not exactly innocent,” Sam began.

  She cut him off with a sharp look. “When we were in that lab, you looked me straight in the eye and begged me not to kill those people. Do you remember that, Sam? You had to remind me there were innocents in that building.”

  “Syd…” He shook his head. “I didn’t say that because we were afraid of you. Honey, you’d just woken up from a chemically-induced coma. We didn’t know what kind of shit they’d put in your veins. For all we knew, they’d been trying to reprogram you like some kind of neo-angelic Terminator. I was afraid for you, not of you. I just didn’t want you to do something you’d regret.”

  “Except…I wouldn’t have.”

  “Wouldn’t have what?”

  “Regretted it.”

  Silence.

  Sydney let out a harsh laugh. “I would have killed all those people, Sam. If you hadn’t been there, if Dex hadn’t, I would have taken that building down, stone by stone, and buried every single one of them under tons of rock and metal. If I hadn’t had to protect you two, I would have done exactly that—and I would have walked away without a backward glance.”

  She tilted her head. “Regret? No. I wouldn’t have regretted killing them. The only reason I didn’t kill them all is because you asked me not to.”

  She meant it. A shiver of fear went up Sam’s spine despite his efforts to suppress it. But he didn’t acknowledge it, instead cocking his head and looking at her through narrowed eyes. “I see. Okay. I get it now.”

  “I’m sorry? Get what?”

  “What you’re trying to do.”

  She rubbed her temple and let out a frustrated huff. “I’m trying—”

  “You tried the sneak approach, but that didn’t work.”

  She looked up indignantly. “I didn’t sneak.”

  “You tried the female version of a reasoned approach—”

  “Excuse me? Female version?”

  “—but that didn’t work, either. So now, you’re going for shock value.”

  “Shock value?” Her eyes went so wide it seemed they might pop from her head. “Did you hear what I said?”

  “I heard you.”

  “I heard it too, in case anyone’s wondering,” Dex added.

  “Seems you both still have problems with the difference between hearing and listening.”

  “No, no,” Sam said flatly, “we’ve listened to every word you’ve said. The problem is, you still haven’t said the words we need to hear. Like why you think leaving is the best solution to this problem.”

  “There is no more problem once I walk out that door.”

  “Oh, right, that’s my cue,” Dex said, moving to brace his back against the door once again. He waved a hand at Sam. “Continue.”

  Sydney growled with obvious frustration. “I know you guys can do this all day, but really, there’s no point. I’m leaving. End of story.”

  “Not until you tell us why,” Sam repeated.

  “I already told you.”

  “Oh, good, here we go again,” Dex said too brightly. He gave Sam another go-on motion. “No, really, this is fun. Like watching professional ping-pong.”

  “Dex, just move out of the way,” Sydney said with a hard sigh. She moved in that direction, but Sam cut her off.

  “Not until you tell us why.”

  “I told you already.”

  “Uh huh. Is it because of Levi?”

  Her expression went cold. “Levi is no longer your concern.”

  “Is it because you let him live?”

  “I didn’t—”

  “Or because you chose not to let us die?”

  Sydney flinched.

  “Score one for the ping-pong master,” Dex said, half under his breath.

  Sydney glared at him before shooting Sam a murderous look. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t I?” Sam moved right up into her personal space, looming over her. “There was a witness, Sydney. Someone saw how your fight with Levi went down.”

  “Who?” Dex wanted to know.

  He didn’t take his eyes off Syd. “The receptionist. The woman who told us where to find ol’ sparky, here. She saw the whole thing. She also expressed some opinions about the way it all went down.”

  “Did she?” Dex asked.

  “She did.”

  “Sam—” Sydney began.

  “Funny thing, Syd—she said you could have killed him. Would have, probably, if you’d tried hard enough. But she seemed to think you were holding yourself back. Wasting your power, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “I didn’t waste anything,” Sydney spat through gritted teeth.

  “No? Not even to protect us?”

  Sydney said nothing.

  Dex let out a long, low whistle. “Shit, Syd, is that true? Did you hold back against Levi because you were keeping us locked up in that elevator? Did he get away because of us?”

  “No, asshole, he got away because I let him!” Sydney cried, rounding on them with fists clenched at her sides. “He survived because I wa
sn’t strong enough, okay? Is that what you want to hear?”

  “I’d rather hear the truth,” Sam said implacably. He took another step forward, until Sydney had to look straight up to meet his eyes. “What happened out there, Syd? Why’d you let Levi walk away?”

  “I had no choice!” The anguish in her voice made Sam’s heart ache. “If I’d let that barrier fall, he would have drained both your souls in a heartbeat. Even if I thought my power would have been enough, which was no guarantee, I couldn’t take that risk. I couldn’t go through that again!”

  Again?

  The realization hit Sam like a thunderclap. He stared at Syd, his heart breaking into a million pieces—for her. “Oh. Oh, sweetheart. Fuck, I didn’t…I didn’t realize…”

  Sydney dashed tears from her cheek as she looked away from him.

  “I’m sorry,” Dex said, “I guess…I think I missed something…?”

  Sam had to swallow the lump in his throat. “She told us Levi killed her daughter and her husband. But he didn’t, did he, Syd? He killed your daughter…but, he didn’t kill Michael.”

  “No,” Sydney whispered after a long silence. “He didn’t kill Michael. I h-had to do it. After…After Levi took his s-soul.”

  Dex hissed in surprise as Sydney dropped the duffle bag on the floor and sat down hard on the edge of the bed. Sam reached out, then pulled his hand back at the last second. She looked fragile enough to shatter with a single touch. Instead, he sat down next to her, close but not touching. Dex moved to take up a flanking position on her other side. Neither man spoke.

  After a while, Sydney filled the silence. “He got Harmony—my daughter—first. Killed her with a skinning knife. I was so enraged, I…I lost control. I attacked him. With everything I had, I attacked him. Burned the whole farm down around our ears trying to get to Levi. But I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t get through his defenses. He escaped. I went…I went to go find Michael.”

  Sam reached out and slowly, slowly, placed an arm around her shoulders. She let him, but her body remained rigid, her eyes focused on something far distant.

  “I found Michael in the barn. I thought…I thought he’d been killed when Harmony was…” She coughed, cleared her throat. “But Michael was still alive, half-buried under debris. I was so elated, I ran to him, reached out to turn him over, to get a look at his face.

  “That’s when I felt it. Levi’s magic. I felt what he’d done to Michael. He’d…he’d Broken him. C-crushed him. Michael took one look at me and…” She trailed off with a strangled sob.

  Both men moved in close, hugging her between them. Sydney allowed it for a moment, but then shrugged them off. She cleared her throat several times, then lifted her chin at a defiant angle.

  “When I sensed Levi in the DEA building, I knew I had to keep him away from you. I couldn’t let him do that. I couldn’t…I couldn’t let him do that to you. So…yes, I held part of my power back. I used it to keep you safe.

  “I had to let him walk away. And now, because I was too weak to finish it, he’s still out there. Still draining men’s souls. Still causing an endless string of death and destruction. All because…because I wasn’t strong enough.”

  Sam felt hollow. Wooden. He tried clearing his throat, but it felt like swallowing sandpaper. “Would you go back? Make a different decision?”

  She looked up at him with a slight frown.

  Sam cleared his throat again. “Would you change it if you could? Would you…would you sacrifice—”

  “Never,” Sydney snarled, white flames briefly flashing over her eyes. “Levi will never have you. Either one of you. I swore that on the day I met you. Why do you think I kept you in the dark about him? I knew you’d want to do something stupid like go chasing after him. I couldn’t let that happen. I won’t. Not ever.”

  Thankfully, he was already sitting down, because his knees went so weak they wouldn’t have supported his weight. She didn’t regret it. She didn’t regret choosing to save them. Thank God. The relief of that realization flooded through him, making him dizzy.

  A moment later, Sam frowned. “Okay, then…I don’t understand.”

  “Don’t understand what?” she said in a tired, hollow voice.

  “If you’re not angry because you saved us instead of—”

  “You think that’s why I’m upset?” Sydney shot to her feet, spinning around with an incredulous look on her face. “For fuck’s sake, Sam, don’t you get it? I’m dangerous. It’s dangerous for you guys to be around me. Levi may have walked away for now, but eventually, he’ll come after you again.”

  “So how would you leaving prevent that?” Dex asked, scowling up at her. “You can’t leave us trapped in an elevator for the rest of our lives, Syd. I don’t think they even have one in this place.”

  “Damn it, Dex—”

  “He’s right,” Sam chimed in. “Come on, you’re smarter than that. If Levi’s going to come after us, he’ll do it whether you’re here or not. You going to protect us from afar? Is that it?”

  Sydney threw up her hands. “I’m leaving because I don’t want you to die, you idiot!”

  “We’ll both die eventually,” Sam said quietly, meeting her gaze unflinchingly. “Sorry, but it’s true. Side effect of being un-immortal.”

  Dex shot him a sideways frown. “Dude, I don’t think you get to make up words.”

  Sydney froze, mouth hanging open as she blinked at Dex.

  And then, finally, at long last, the dam broke. Sydney threw back her head—and laughed.

  . Dex shot him a wink, followed by a cheeky grin, which made Sam roll his eyes. Then both men stood, flanking her front and back, and wrapped their arms around her. Sydney snuggled against his chest, one arm crooked back to wrap around Dex’s bicep, and heaved a giggly sort of sigh.

  “You guys are idiots, you know that?”

  “Yeah, but we’re your idiots,” Dex said with solemn aplomb.

  Sydney chortled, then sighed again. “I mean it, guys. It’s not safe.”

  “Safer with you than without,” Sam replied. He rested his chin on the top of her head. “You’re stuck with us, Sydney Carpenter. Running away won’t change that. Besides, we’re kind of out of a job, now that the DEA has been exposed as a darkling haven. We were kind of hoping to freeload off you until we get our shit together.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Dex piped up. “Why didn’t you say anything, Syd? Why didn’t you tell us Levi had already gotten to them? Why’d you let us keep on working for them?”

  She shrugged just a little. “When I met you two, you were so…I don’t know…enthusiastic, I guess. So proud to be part of an Agency you thought was out to fight the good fight. I guess I didn’t want to ruin it for you. Besides, you would have still gone on to be darkling hunters. I figured you’d be better off working against them from the inside, so to speak. It worked. Well, you know, until it didn’t anymore.”

  “We need to figure out a plan about that,” Sam said, grim certainty in his tone. “The other guys from Fox Company need to be told what’s going on. And we need to figure out a way to take Levi and the DEA down before more people get hurt.”

  Sydney let out an annoyed huff, pushed herself out of their embrace, and stood back with a scowl on her face. “I can’t do this. You need to fix that first.”

  Sam blinked. “Pardon?”

  She made a sharp up-and-down gesture. “If we’re going to talk shop, then you need to put on a shirt. And, you know, pants, or something.”

  Sam looked down—and realized he’d been wearing nothing but a towel this whole time. He looked up with a grin. “What’s wrong with it?”

  Her scowl deepened. “I’ve been trying to have a reasoned discussion with you, and this whole time you’ve been standing there like that, and you’re all muscley and glistening…”

  “So?” His grin widened.

  “So? It’s distracting!”

  Sam raised his eyebrows, then looked at Dex. Dex blinked, his face transfo
rming into a wicked grin—and yanked his own shirt over his head.

  Sydney backed away, holding both hands up. “No. No, you guys can’t—”

  They advanced on her, sweeping her up in their arms. She fought them, laughing, as Sam man-handled all three of them back until they fell onto a bed. By the time they managed to wriggle her out of her clothing, her laughing protests had morphed into pleading moans. Time slipped after that, as Sam lost himself in the feel, taste, and smell of both his lovers.

  And this time, he remembered to tell them as much.

  “I love you,” he whispered as he slipped into Sydney’s warm, welcoming body. “Both of you.”

  “I know, idiot,” Sydney replied. “Now, shut up and fuck me.”

  He did.

  Hours later, when all three of them had exhausted their need for each other, Sam curled himself around Sydney’s back, his arm thrown across her side to rest on Dex’s broad chest. The three of them cuddled like that, drifting on a sea of sated bliss.

  Sam kissed the back of Sydney’s neck, then looked up to find Dex smiling softly. “That was…” Words failed him.

  “Magic,” Sydney finished for him. A contented smile bloomed as she snuggled down between them. “That’s what you are. Both of you. Pure…magic.”

  THE END

  Epilogue

  Sydney cradled her coffee cup with both hands, letting the warmth soothe her frigid fingertips. She let out a long, luxurious sigh, resting her forearms on the wooden railing as she took in the view from her lakehouse’s enormous outdoor deck. The Adirondacks were cold this time of year, but it wasn’t yet snowing. Lake Placid resembled its name, looking like nothing so much as a mirror meant to show the sky just how beautiful it truly was. Mount Marcy brooded in the distance, its pocket valleys and craggy ridges providing a breathtaking, varied landscape to meditate over. She took it all in, letting the glory and the beauty of it all fill her tired soul, and waited to find out what the boys had decided.

  A smile tickled her lips. Dex and Sam had been so adorably surprised to learn that she owned property out here. Hell, they’d been surprised to find out she owned more than a single duffle bag. But then, she hadn’t exactly been all that forthcoming with them.